Nov 20, 2017 A spot in the Big 12 Championship Game is on the line for No. 12 TCU when it hosts Baylor on Friday at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. In years past, this game has been a battle, and its winner would be in the discussion for a major bowl. This time around, only the Horned Frogs will continue on to the postseason and still have a conference title within reach. If TCU beats Baylor, it will get a rematch against No. 4 Oklahoma in the league title game on Dec. 2 in Arlington, Texas. Oklahoma beat the Horned Frogs 38-20 in Norman, Okla. on Nov. 11 to take control over the top of the Big 12 standings. Don't think for a second that TCU (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) can afford to take Baylor lightly, even though the Bears are 1-10 overall and 1-7 in league play. Expect a low-scoring game since each team relies on its defense. TCU's final home game comes after a 27-3 victory over Texas Tech last Saturday in which the Horned Frogs didn't allow a second-half touchdown for the sixth consecutive game. TCU has allowed a lone field goal in the second half since a 26-6 win over Kansas State on Oct. 14, going 5-1 over that six-game stretch. "Our goal is for our seniors to have the best season they can have," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "They have a chance to win 10, 11 or 12 ballgames, which is really cool. We've got Baylor on Friday, so it's an opportunity to get to 10 wins, and that's what we're trying to get accomplished. " TCU beat Texas Tech without injured senior quarterback Kenny Hill and star running back Darius Anderson, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the loss to Oklahoma. Patterson told reporters on the Big 12 coaches conference call Monday that Hill is "closer to probable" to playing against Baylor. Hill, a senior who has started 30 college games -- eight at Texas A&M and 22 at TCU -- ranks third in the Big 12 and 10th in the country in completion percentage. He has thrown just five interceptions this season. "I think (Hill's) got a chance to be back," Patterson said. "You know me -- I'm going to tell the truth. I'd say, probable to questionable, and I'd probably say closer to probable. Now. " Patterson, who usually plays his cards close to the vest, provided no updates on linebackers Travin Hill and Montrel Wilson, safeties Niko Small and Ridwan Issahaku or kicker Jonathan Song after all those players missed the Tech game with injuries. Baylor heads to Cowtown on the heels of a 23-13 loss to Iowa State. Baylor coach Matt Rhule likes the progress his defense is making. The Bears held Iowa State to 394 yards, marking the third straight game they've surrendered less than 400 yards, a major accomplishment in the Big 12, where high-tempo spread-offenses routinely rack up more than 500 yards a game. "The defense has gotten better," Rhule said. "It's clicked for them at some point. A lot of our young players are getting better and better and better. If we continue to improve and continue to recruit and continue to develop, the defensive structure will continue to take off. " It's the Baylor offense that has struggled this year. The Bears' offense -- which is no longer the pass-first, spread attack employed by former coach Art Briles -- has coughed up six turnovers in the past two games, and the offensive line must get much better to allow the running game to flourish and to give freshman quarterback Charlie Brewer more time to throw. The Bears are approaching the season finale against TCU with realistic expectations. "TCU is a great team," Rhule said. "I do know this: We can control how we play, and we can certainly protect the football, and we don't have to just give it to them. "I want to send our seniors out the right way, and I want to certainly continue to try to learn what it takes to win. Let's make the plays that it takes to be a great team. So that's just the next step in the progression to me. " Last year's 62-22 win in Waco gave TCU a 53-52-7 series lead over Baylor. With 112 games played, TCU has faced Baylor more than any opponent in its history. The first game between TCU and Baylor was a scoreless tie in 1899. TCU is 6-3 against Baylor since the Southwest Conference dissolved after the 1995 season and are 3-2 versus the Bears in the Big 12 era.

Nov 20, 2017 Every time Miami ventures north of the Georgia-Florida line in November, it seems mandatory that the Hurricanes be forced to address the issue of weather and how they are going to cope with the "cold. " With a temperature expected to be in the 40s, however, that doesn't appear to be much of a problem when the Hurricanes (10-0, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) play at Pittsburgh (4-7, 2-5) this time. What is more on Miami coach Mark Richt's mind is dealing with the short work week and getting his players ready for Friday's noon kickoff at Heinz Field. "We don't have a lot of time," Richt said. "Pitt doesn't either. These guys know. They know they have to get their rest, take care of their bodies. " Because of the juggling of the schedule created when Hurricane Irma hit South Florida in September with one game (Arkansas State on Sept. 9) canceled and another postponed (Florida State to Oct. 12 from Sept. 16), the Hurricanes lost an early open date and thus will be playing a 10th consecutive weekend with an 11th coming up Dec. 2 in the ACC Championship Game. Richt said coaches must take that into consideration. "We, as coaches, have to be wise and not do things to wear them out but still do enough to be prepared," he said. "They have to take care of themselves. " After posting their 15th consecutive win dating to last season with their come-from-behind 44-28 win over Virginia last week, the Hurricanes will be facing a Pitt team that saw its chance of keeping alive hopes of reaching bowl eligibility lost. The Panthers could not punch it in from a yard out in four tries in the closing seconds in a 20-14 loss to Virginia Tech. But coach Pat Narduzzi expects his Panthers to be ready for the Hurricanes, who were No. 3 in last week's College Football Playoff rankings and are No. 2 in media and coaches' polls this week. Narduzzi expects an emotional atmosphere at Heinz Field with 14 players being recognized on Senior Day, plus "playing a tremendous football team with a ton of speed, ton of confidence, and obviously playing at a high level right now," he said. "It will be a great challenge. "We'll use Miami as a measuring stick as to how far we've grown through the entire year. " The failure to get the ball into the end zone on its final series against Virginia Tech is kind of emblematic of the season the Panthers have gone through. Though averaging a not-terrible 148 yards a game rushing, the Panthers had only 55 against the Hokies just one week after amassing 267 against North Carolina and 336 against Duke two weeks earlier. The game against the Hokies marked the fourth time they have failed to get to the 100 mark on the ground. Narduzzi noted that his Panthers will be going up a veteran Miami defense that is fast and talented. And yes, he is aware of the gold turnover chain that is draped around the neck of a Miami defensive player who comes up with interception or fumble recovery. The Hurricanes have had 19 takeaways over the last five games and 27 for the season, tied for third nationally. "They've got confidence they're going to get turnovers every time they walk out onto the field, so that's certainly going to be a key to victory -- don't get them started -- pass that chain around and have 10 or 12 guys have that chain around their neck," Narduzzi said. "We've got to make sure that things stays wherever they keep it when they walk out onto the field. Keep it in that box. " Narduzzi isn't sure who will start at quarterback for Pitt. Freshman Kenny Pickett, who finished against Virginia Tech, and sophomore Ben DiNucci are separated by "or" on the depth chart. "We've got to get a run game going," he said. It will be interesting to see how Miami rebounds after last week's close call at home to Virginia. The Hurricanes twice trailed by 14-point margins before pulling out the victory. "They beat the team we just played, 31-14, I believe,'' Richt said of the Panthers. "That's about all you need to know. "

Nov 21, 2017 Central Florida and South Florida have played eight times in what is billed as the "War on I-4" -- a reference to the interstate highway that links the schools' campuses in Orlando and Tampa, respectively -- but none had the impact or buildup that goes with this week's matchup. The undefeated Knights (10-0, 7-0 American Athletic Conference) and once-beaten Bulls (9-1, 6-1 AAC) will play Friday afternoon in Orlando for a certain spot in the conference championship game against Memphis and a possible berth in a New Year's Six bowl game as the representative from the Group of Five conferences. The Knights were No. 15 in last week's College Football Playoff rankings ahead of Memphis at No. 21 and No. 25 Boise State of the Mountain West. USF did not make the Top 25 of the CFP rankings but was No. 22 in the media poll and No. 19 in the coaches' poll to UCF's 13/12, respectively. Unfortunately for the Bulls, the CFP rankings are the ones that matter, and a 28-24 loss to Houston on Oct. 28 knocked them out of that. Oh, yeah. These two teams do not exactly like each other. USF resisted even agreeing to the series that would have matched up the two young programs in the 1990s. The Bulls have dominated the series since it was initiated in 2005, winning the first four matchups and six of eight, with last year's victory adding to the rivalry's fire. The Bulls pushed across a late touchdown to expand a 10-point cushion to a 48-31 final after the Knights turned the ball over on downs in the final two minutes. UCF coach Scott Frost, who got the Knights into a bowl game last year after inheriting a winless team, clearly remembers that, but he said revenge won't be a factor this week. He seemed more upset by a scheduling quirk that has his team coming off a Saturday trip to Temple and going into a Friday afternoon game while the Bulls last played on Thursday night. "It's unfortunate the conference gave us a short week and gave them a couple extra days," Frost said. "I don't agree with that at all, especially with a game of this magnitude. I hope that doesn't happen to a team again. "That being said, we're going to do all the work we need to get ready, and I'm sure our kids will have no problem getting motivated. " Though both teams are the leaders in the conference in two key areas -- USF is No. 1 in both scoring defense (19. 9 points per game) and total defense (323. 5 yards) and UCF is No. 2 in both categories (20. 5 points 373. 6 yards), the game sets up for an offensive show led by two top quarterbacks. UCF's McKenzie Milton is the AAC's total offense leader, running and passing for 330. 1 yards a game, 292. 8 through the air. "He's having an unbelievable year," first-year USF coach Charlie Strong said. "His numbers are astounding. You look at him and he does a great job of directing the offense. He places the ball in the right place. "The thing about him is when you try to rush him, he gets the ball out, and if you don't rush him, you better get ready because he can find the open receivers. "Our hands are going to be full. We know the type of player he is and the type of year he is having. We're going to have to play our best. " USF's Quinton Flowers ranks in sixth in the AAC in both rushing (87. 0 yards per game) and passing (209. 7). "He's a special player," Frost said. "He has been since he came on the scene a couple years ago. He's the type of guy that makes big plays all over the place. You can feel like you're controlling and stopping him and he can make a big play at any time. He's dynamic. "We really have to attack him. We have to make sure we are closing the distance on him and not let him making any long runs. And we've got to be sound in coverage so he doesn't hit a big pass. "It's going to be a challenge, and our guys are fired up about it. " It is, quite simply, Strong said, "the game that everyone has been waiting for. "

Nov 20, 2017 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Virginia Tech and Virginia will square off for the 99th time Friday, playing for the Commonwealth Cup, which has been firmly in the Hokies' possession lately. Virginia Tech, which moved back into the Associated Press poll at No. 24 this week, will be looking to make it 14 consecutive wins over the Cavaliers when the teams meet at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. "Just the brutal facts, it's been a long time," Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall said about the Cavaliers' losing streak to the Hokies. Virginia (6-5, 3-4 ACC) is having its best campaign since 2011, although Mendenhall's first taste of the rivalry was a sour one a year ago as the Cavaliers got walloped in Blacksburg 52-10 to close out a 2-10 season. This year, Virginia is already bowl eligible and is looking for its first win in the series since 2003. "I have a better understanding for almost everything about or program than I did last year," Mendenhall said. "This game is for the state championship, which deserves our best preparation and intent and practice habits and work ethic. " The Hokies (8-3, 4-3) need to beat Virginia and win their bowl game to notch their second straight 10-win season. Coach Justin Fuente, in his second season with Virginia Tech, will experience the rivalry on Virginia's home turf for the first time. "They are a much-improved and completely different football team than we played a year ago," said Fuente. "They're scoring points and throwing the ball down the field. " Virginia Tech is one of the best defensive teams in the country, ranking sixth nationally in points allowed per game (14. 7) and 17th in total defense (315. 6 yards). The Hokies' defense is led by junior linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who has team highs with 93 tackles and 11 tackles for loss. He was selected as one of five finalists Monday for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker. "We have a lot of history of great defensive players and linebackers, but Tremaine deserves to be recognized for his play," Fuente said. "We forget sometimes how young he is and how far he has come in a short period of time. But he certainly deserves to be mentioned among the national elite. " Virginia will challenge that Virginia Tech defense with quarterback Kurt Benkert, who needs just 101 yards to set the school record for passing yards in a season. He has completed 265 of 439 passes for 2,876 yards, with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns last week against Miami, only to the see the unbeaten Hurricanes rally for a 44-28 victory. Virginia has lost four of its previous five games but took a lot of positives from last week's game. "We missed an opportunity against Miami, plain and simple," Benkert said. "We've got two more games ahead of us, so there's a lot more football to be played. " Despite the blowout last season in Blacksburg, Virginia had played the Hokies tough in recent years, losing the previous four games by a total of just 20 points. The Cavaliers will need to ramp up their rushing attack, which is averaging just 3. 4 yards per carry. Virginia Tech came up with a late goal-line stand to win 20-14 at Pitt last week, snapping a two-game losing streak. Redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Jackson, who was 17 of 37 passing for 218 yards against the Panthers, has been inconsistent in league play. "He continues to improve," Fuente said. "Josh has got to focus on making the average play on a consistent basis. The big plays will come. " Jackson has a top target in receiver Cam Phillips (68 catches for 918 yards and seven touchdowns), but the Hokies' rushing attack, averaging 3. 8 yards per carry, hasn't been great. Virginia's standouts on defense include linebacker Micah Kiser (115 tackles, eight for loss, five sacks) and safety Quin Blanding (104 tackles, four interceptions). "I haven't been here for 13 years so it doesn't affect me," Kiser said about the rivalry. "I'm a Maryland guy so I didn't know much about the rivalry before I got to UVA, but it has grown on me. " Virginia Tech safety Khalil Ladler summed up the feelings pretty simply Monday. "They don't like us and we don't like them," he said.

Nov 23, 2017 NEW YORK -- For various reasons, the Portland Trail Blazers and Brooklyn Nets were doomed by one bad quarter Wednesday.In Philadelphia, Portland could never recover after an extremely slow start. In Cleveland, Brooklyn could not prevent LeBron James from taking over down the stretch.The Trail Blazers and Nets will try to rebound from those tough stretches Friday afternoon when they get together at Barclays Center.Portland (10-8) enters the game 4-4 in its last eight games. The Trail Blazers have not allowed more than 101 points in those contests but also have not scored more than 102 points in that span.Portland's 101.9 points rank 19th after it missed its first 13 shots and gave up the first 16 points in Wednesday's 101-81 loss at Philadelphia. Although Damian Lillard scored 30 points, the Trail Blazers shot a season-worst 33.7 percent and the game dropped their offensive rating to 21st at 104.8."I don't know if it was anything they did," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "We couldn't buy a basket early. Missed open shots. Missed shots around the basket." The fact that Portland's scoring offense is not in the bottom third of the league can be attributed to the first two weeks of the season.In winning six of their first 10 games, the Blazers averaged 107.2 points while shooting 39.4 percent from 3-point range and getting to the line 26.4 times. In the last eight, those numbers are 94.6 points, 36.7 from 3 (42.9 percent overall) and 19.4 free throws per game, which was a point of contention for Lillard on Wednesday."I go to the rim a lot," he said after matching a season low with three free-throw attempts. "I'm getting smacked in my head, smacked on my shooting hand when I'm going to the basket. Guys knocking me to the ground every other play -- like hard. ... It's frustrating." Among the other reasons is lack of transition offense for Portland, which is last with 4.5 fast-break points per game in a category led by Golden State's 23.7. The fast break is not a new issue for Portland since it was 22nd last season at 11.7 and 26th two years ago at 10.7."This year, it's been much more of a topic," Lillard told the Oregonian earlier this week. "I feel like we'll take it kind of as a challenge and ... when we have those opportunities, try to take advantage of them. We've got to put pressure on people in transition, so I think we'll improve as the season goes on." It's just more noticeable this season and especially in recent games.One of Portland's spotty offensive showings occurred two weeks ago in a 101-97 home loss to the Nets. The Blazers shot 42.1 percent as Lillard and backcourt mate C. J. McCollum combined for 36 points on 13-of-32 shooting.It is one of three wins in the last 11 games for the Nets since their 112-107 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 25. It also represents one of two times the Nets gave up less than 100 points this season.Brooklyn (6-11) ranks 29th in points allowed at 114.2 and 25th in defensive rating (109.6) after Wednesday's 119-109 loss in Cleveland. James scored 18 straight points and 23 overall in the fourth quarter when the Nets allowed the Cavaliers to make 13 of 17 shots."We tried different things," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said. "We tried switching, and he kind of picks out the guy he wants to go at. I'm disappointed. I thought we had some open looks on the offensive end that might have made it a little tighter." The Nets lost despite shooting a season-high 51.9 percent, mostly because they couldn't finish down the stretch. The Nets made at least 14 3-pointers in a third straight game for the first time in team history but also gave up 15 fast-break points after allowing 16 against Golden State Sunday."There ain't too much you can do. It's just one of those nights," Brooklyn forward DeMarre Carroll said. "We competed. We've just got to figure out how to close out games." The Nets will play their fifth game since losing D'Angelo Russell indefinitely to left knee surgery. Russell scored 21 points in Portland but was injured the next night in Utah.Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored eight points Wednesday, will be the starting point guard. Dinwiddie is averaging 16.5 points since the Nets lost Russell while former Trail Blazers guard Allen Crabbe is averaging 18.3 points in his last four games.Portland is 7-4 against the Nets since Lillard entered the league in the 2012 draft with a pick previously owned by Brooklyn. In last season's visit to Brooklyn on Nov. 20, 2016, McCollum scored 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting in Portland's 129-109 win.

Nov 24, 2017 ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks hope their recent success against the New York Knicks can carry over to this rebuilding year and help them end a three-game losing streak.Atlanta (3-15) hosts New York (10-7) on Friday at Philips Arena, the first of three meetings between the clubs this season.The Hawks won their last three meetings with the Knicks and went 3-1 against them last season. This will be the only game between the two clubs in Atlanta, with the other two meetings scheduled for Madison Square Garden.Atlanta is in a rebuilding mode after losing free agents Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr., who signed with the Knicks and is averaging 18.4 points. Hardaway's presence has helped offset some of the scoring that was lost when Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.The Hawks are coming off a 116-103 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday, a decision that broke Los Angeles' nine-game losing streak. The Hawks have endured extended losing streaks this season, dropping eight straight and four straight, and they have settled into last place in the Eastern Conference.A bright spot for Atlanta has been the development of rookie John Collins, who produced a double-double while making his first career start against the Clippers. Collins, a first-round pick from Wake Forest, has scored 35 points over the past two games and has shown increased confidence around the rim."John continues to be somebody that's growing, improving and playing well," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "He's busting it out there. We want him to continue to take those steps forward." Collins held his own against veteran Clippers frontcourt stalwarts Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan."Those are both All-Stars," Budenholzer said. "He continues to take the challenge and welcome the challenge. He has to be better and we have to be better as a team, but a lot of positives for John." The Knicks are getting good play from 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis, who this season became the youngest player to score at least 400 points through 15 games. Porzingis, who averages 27.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, will provide another challenge for Collins.Porzingis had 22 points and 12 rebounds in New York's 108-100 win over Toronto on Wednesday. He was instrumental in helping the Knicks outscore the Raptors 41-10 in the third quarter. Hardaway scored a career-high 38 points in the win, which included a 28-0 run during an eight-minute stretch."At halftime we had some strong words for each other," Porzingis said. "We talked about stuff we wanted to do better, and we came out in the second half looking like a different team." It was the sixth time this season the Knicks won a game in which they trailed by double digits. New York is 10-2 when scoring 100 points.The Knicks and Hawks typically play entertaining games. In January 2017, Atlanta won in New York on a last-second 3-pointer by Dennis Schroder, and the Hawks also beat the Knicks in Atlanta in four overtimes despite 45 points from Anthony.

Nov 24, 2017 BOSTON -- On May 24, 2010, the Orlando Magic defeated the Celtics in Boston to avoid a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.The Magic, who visit TD Garden on Friday night, have not won in Boston since, losing Game 6 of that series to get eliminated and 13 straight regular-season games since.They come to Boston with six consecutive losses overall, falling to 8-10 after an optimistic start. Now Orlando gets to face a Boston team that had its 16-game winning streak snapped with a 104-98 loss in Miami on Wednesday night."Right now, it's just like a spiral because losing is bad," Magic swingman Evan Fournier said Wednesday night after Orlando lost in Minnesota. "You wake up in the morning and you feel (sickly). Every time you watch the film session, everybody is down. It's just an awful feeling, and I can't wait to get a 'W,' man." The Magic, who traveled to Boston on Thanksgiving, ran off a 6-2 record in their first eight games but have won just twice since."We've got to play mad for four quarters," Orlando coach Frank Vogel said Wednesday. "We've lost six in a row. We've got to play that way to start games and throughout the game." Regardless of how Orlando plays, Boston has not been a friendly place for the Magic.The Celtics will be doing something they haven't had to do since Oct. 20 -- play a game after a loss."It's tough, but I'm proud of this group," Boston forward Al Horford said after the Wednesday loss. "We put ourselves in position to win a game there, and we didn't make the plays down the stretch. We have to learn from that."It wasn't like we were necessarily dominating during the streak. But the will of this team is something that needs to be accounted for." The Celtics overcame one 17-point deficit and two 18-point holes during the streak. They tried to crawl back Wednesday, but it just wasn't there as the record fell to a still-NBA-best 16-3."There's still a lot to accomplish going forward," Celtics guard Kyrie Irving said after following his 47-point effort in Dallas with an off night -- for him (23 points) in Miami. "It was a nice streak, but it was time to come to an end." Boston coach Brad Stevens added, "We are not as good as that 16-game win streak." The Celtics, who just came off a three-game trip and also go to Indiana on Saturday night, beat the Magic 104-88 in Orlando on Nov. 5. Jaylen Brown led six Boston players in double figures with 18 points. That was the eighth game of the 16-game streak that is now history.Now, the Magic hope to end their own streak and give the Celtics two straight losses for the second time this season."Play like it's a playoff game for us -- that's the only way I see it right now," Fournier said. "We have to play extremely hard and with confidence. We've just got to find a way to get a 'W,' get this streak over and bounce back."

Nov 24, 2017 OKLAHOMA CITY -- A team looking to regain its footing and a team looking to finally find some momentum meet Friday night in Oklahoma City when the Thunder host the Detroit Pistons.In a win Wednesday over defending champion Golden State, the Thunder's big three of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony finally strung together a nearly complete game."We can't come this far tonight and then have slippage on Friday against Detroit," Anthony said after the win over the Warriors. "We've got to learn from this. We've got to build on this. And hopefully we can move forward from this and start something." The Pistons are in the middle of a stretch of nine of 11 games on the road. Before they left for the initial three-game road swing, they were flying high, with five consecutive wins.But the Pistons have lost three of their first four and the schedule is unforgiving over the next few weeks. Of the next 10 opponents, only Oklahoma City and Phoenix have losing records.Tobias Harris' shooting struggles have coincided with the Pistons' problems. In the first 13 games, he shot 48 percent from the field, and even better from behind the 3-point line. But, in the past four games, Harris is hitting just 37.8 percent on field goals. His shooting from behind the arc has dipped to 33 percent recently."A little bit more attention (from other teams), but we haven't played as a team the last four games the way we are capable of playing in terms of picking up our defensive intensity, getting out and running more and just moving the ball more offensively," Harris told the Detroit Free Press. "It's nothing that I'm worried about. I know when shots are there I'm going to take them, let it fly, but I think our defense has to pick up more to fuel the offense." The Pistons played those four games in six nights, but they have been off since the loss to Cleveland on Monday.For the Thunder, Friday's game is the first of a back-to-back that wraps up in Dallas on Saturday.Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan tinkered with his rotations in the win over the Warriors after the Thunder struggled to hold on to big early leads in losses to San Antonio and New Orleans.He kept three starters on the floor to start the second half, going with George, Anthony and Steven Adams.The switched helped the Thunder build off the lead they has amassed in the first quarter.Donovan figures to continue to tinker with things as Oklahoma City looks for consistency with its made-over roster."We've got to play the same way," Oklahoma City's Raymond Felton said. "Hopefully this right here starts a run for us. We can't go backwards from this."

Nov 24, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- The Miami Heat arrive in chilly Minnesota to begin a four-game road trip less than 48 hours after cooling off the NBA's hottest team.The Heat snapped the Boston Celtics' 16-game winning streak on Wednesday behind Goran Dragic's game-high 27 points and Dion Waiters' clutch 3-point shooting.The 104-98 win gave Miami coach Erik Spoelstra a few more things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving."I don't even care about the result right now," Spoelstra said. "It's all about behavior and habits. Guys really brought a purity to the work, a focus, a discipline the past two days." The Heat (8-9) were anything but hot in a 25-point home loss to Indiana on Sunday, but they bounced back convincingly three days later against the league's top team.After the Celtics slashed Miami's 14-point fourth-quarter lead to one with 3:14 remaining, Waiters hit two consecutive shots from long range to help end the Heat's eight-game losing streak to Boston."Those guys didn't win 16 games for nothing," Waiters said of the Celtics. "It was a battle." The Heat are looking to turn the tables on a Minnesota team that beat them 125-122 in overtime on Oct. 30 at AmericanAirlines Arena behind point guard Jeff Teague's 23 points. Miami was without center Hassan Whiteside, who sat out the loss with a bruised left knee but will be in the lineup on Friday.Miami has won 15 of 28 all-time meetings between the two clubs at Target Center, including the past two, and 32 of 54 overall contests.One could hardly fault Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau if he spent his Black Friday shopping for a closeout of the fourth quarter variety. While his team managed to hang on for a 124-118 win over Orlando on Wednesday, the Magic outscored the Timberwolves 38-18 in the final quarter to close the gap to four with two seconds remaining before losing their sixth straight game."I was concerned because I saw they brought their starters back to start the fourth," Thibodeau said after the game. "So matching up with the starters was a concern. The way they shoot the 3, I knew that the lead wasn't safe." Minnesota (11-7) led 106-80 after three quarters after outscoring the Magic 41-18 in the third, but the Timberwolves missed their next 14 field-goal attempts en route to being outscored by double digits in the final quarter for the second straight home game. The first instance led to a 100-97 loss to the Detroit Pistons after Minnesota entered the fourth with a nine-point lead.For the season, opponents are outscoring Minnesota by 4.3 points in the fourth quarter overall. and the Timberwolves are 28th in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring. By contrast, Minnesota is sixth in the league in both third-quarter scoring (27.3) and field-goal percentage (47.6) while Miami is 30th (20.6 points and 38.3 percent shooting) in each category."We got to play like we're down 20 instead of playing like we're up 20," said Minnesota center Taj Gibson, who scored a season-high 24 points on Wednesday night. "When you try to guard the lead, things tend to happen. When you're playing like you've got nothing to lose and you're down, you keep playing and running fast, running to offense, trying to get your points, trying to just get things done. When you're trying to be safe with the lead, you never know. You're turning down shots, you're not being aggressive."

Nov 23, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS -- Until a strange third quarter Wednesday night in New York during which Toronto allowed the Knicks a 28-0 run, the Raptors joined the Indiana Pacers as two of the NBA's hottest teams entering Friday night's game in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.Toronto (11-6) had won four in a row until a 41-10 third-quarter meltdown in Madison Square Garden produced a 108-100 loss to New York despite 25 points from Kyle Lowry and 18 from DeMar DeRozan."The Knicks came out and overcame our energy -- lack of energy -- with their energy and just put us on our heels," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We couldn't make a shot -- short-arming it -- and missed a couple of layups."They came out and made five straight baskets, and again, you let a team like that get momentum as hard as they are playing, you put yourself in a hole." DeRozan said it was an ugly third quarter."They came out aggressive in the third quarter, and we came out in a funk," DeRozan said. "We couldn't make a basket, couldn't get a stop, and they took advantage of it. It happens. It's the NBA. Some teams -- some nights -- have to go through it." Indiana (10-8) on the other hand has won four in a row, including a 105-97 victory Monday night in Orlando during which third-year pro Victor Oladipo scored 29 points.Since coming to Indiana from Oklahoma City in the Paul George trade, the former Indiana University standout has blossomed, averaging 22.6 points, five rebounds and 3.7 assists."I think I've improved a little bit everywhere," Oladipo said. "My mindset, especially, I think has improved a lot. I'm getting comfortable with my teammates and comfortable with the system. I am just taking it one day at a time." Pacers coach Nate McMillan said Oladipo has been a pleasant surprise. Oladipo was the brunt of some jokes about being the player traded for one of the NBA's best."Victor absorbs everything that you tell him," McMillan said." I have had more film sessions with him than I've had with any player. It's because he wants to get better. He's a guy that watches film a lot. He wants to learn and wants to improve. We've been able to see some growth in his game from some of those film sessions." For Oladipo, being only 70 miles from where he attended college in Bloomington, Ind., makes him relaxed and comfortable. He said he grew as a man playing for then-Indiana coach Tom Crean, who was replaced by former Dayton coach Archie Miller at the end of the 2016-2017 season."He will always be my coach," Oladipo said of Crean. "He will always be a father figure to me and always be my coach. He will always be a man that when I look at him, he believed in me before anyone else did." After a year in Orlando and one in Oklahoma City, Oladipo has landed where he believes he belongs."I'm glad to be a Pacer," Oladipo said. "I feel like I am home."

Nov 23, 2017 CLEVELAND -- As the Charlotte Hornets were preparing to play the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, Hornets coach Steve Clifford said his team would try to take away LeBron James' "garbage baskets." "His big, big nights, which he's had against us, it's going to be the fast-break baskets, the second-chance baskets and the cuts," Clifford said prior to Cleveland's 115-107 win over the Hornets on Nov. 15. "That's how he gets from, he's averaging 28, that's how he's going to get to 38. You know, if you do a good job on those, then you hope he gets 28. You control what you can control but again, the great, great ones, you've got to take those other easy ones away." James scored 31 that night, and on Wednesday against Brooklyn poured in 23 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter. He scored 18 in a row.Obviously, no one's been taking away James' buckets this season, garbage or otherwise.The Hornets and the Cavaliers meet again at Friday in Cleveland. James enters as the NBA's third-leading scorer (28.6 points per game) and fourth in assists (8.3 assists per game). He's the league's top scorer with an average of 10.0 points in the fourth quarter."My team looks at me to be that scorer now," James said. "The last couple years, Kyrie (Irving) obviously being as great as he was in the fourth quarter, we kind of pick our games. There was games half the time that he had it going and, 'hey, go get it.' There was games half the time where I had it going and I'd go get it. But right now my teammates look at me and they're like, OK, like this is your quarter, you've done this your whole career."Let's try to make some things happen and it's very important that I try to come through for them." The Cavs have won six straight and seven of their last eight. The Hornets, who are in a stretch of six games in nine days, have won three in a row, but they encountered a potential problem during their 129-124 overtime win over Washington on Wednesday.Guard Nicolas Batum re-injured the left elbow that caused him to miss the first 12 games of the season. The Hornets called the injury a contusion, and there were no further details after the game. Like the Cavs, Charlotte was off on Thanksgiving.Batum made his season debut against the Cavs last week and scored 16 points. Jeremy Lamb started in Batum's place for the second half Wednesday and finished with 24 points.Hornets center Dwight Howard struggled mightily against the Cavs, scoring eight points with five rebounds in a heap of foul trouble. He's on a roll now, though, following up his 20-point, 25-rebound game Monday against Minnesota with 26 points and 13 rebounds against the Wizards.The Hornets trailed Washington by nine points in the fourth quarter in picking up the home win. They're just 1-7 on the road this season."We love playing at home," Howard said. "Thank you, Charlotte. That energy in the building is what keeps us going. But now we need that same energy on the road."

Nov 23, 2017 A road trip that began with such promise for the Denver Nuggets ended in a humbling loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.The lasting impact of Denver's 30-point loss to Houston is how they played without power forward Paul Millsap. He has been a steadying, veteran influence in the first quarter of the season, but now it appears he will miss significant time with a left wrist injury.The original diagnosis was a sprain, but Millsap was sent back to Denver ahead of the team and damage to the ligament was discovered. He will likely have surgery and could be out for three months.Denver will carry on without Millsap when it hosts the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.The Nuggets are determined to overcome the adversity."That injury is not going to define us or our season," coach Michael Malone told The Denver Post. "We're going to continue to prepare, to work, to fight and to compete. One man goes down, you have to have guys step up." It didn't happen in Houston, which capped a quick 1-2 trip. With a day to recover, the Nuggets (10-8) have a chance to recalibrate before taking on Memphis.Millsap probably wouldn't have made a difference in Houston, but with little margin for error in the competitive Western Conference, Denver has to adjust quickly to his absence.Denver has plenty of frontcourt depth, but Millsap is considered a difference maker. His 15.3 points per game are second on the team, and he is also averaging 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists."I'm kind of sad, because he's a big part of our new thing with what we're trying to do," center Nikola Jokic told The Denver Post. "He's a big part of our future. He's a great player, an All-Star. We're going to miss him on the court. He's a go-to guy when we need a bucket." Memphis (7-10) is coming off a heartbreaking setback at home to the Dallas Mavericks that extended its losing streak at six games. A banked-in 3-pointer at the buzzer by Harrison Barnes completed a Dallas rally from 18 down and left the Grizzlies searching for answers."When we get a lead, we need to keep a lead," forward JaMychal Green told The Commercial Appeal after the loss. "That's been our downfall this season. We get a lead and we just let teams come into the game. We have to learn how to build on top of that lead. They just got what they wanted in the third quarter. We just have to get focused and lock in." Memphis had a positive development in the recent downslide. Forward Deyonta Davis, who has moved into the rotation off the bench because of a groin injury to Brandan Wright, has played well the last two games. He had 14 points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes against Dallas.Friday's matchup won't be the biggest game on the NBA slate, but it could have significance later in the season. The Grizzlies are trying to remain a regular playoff participant and the Nuggets are trying to get back there for the first time in five years.Both teams figure to be battling for one of the last seeds when April rolls around, so the head-to-head matchups carry meaning.Friday's game is also a chance for Denver to hit the reset button after a strange three-game trip. Millsap was injured in the first game, a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night, the same night that Malone and Jokic were ejected.Jokic's ejection was rescinded after a league review, but Malone, who stepped on the court and made contact with official Rodney Mott, was suspended for the Sacramento game on Monday.Denver controlled that game and won easily. Now it has to find that same magic without Millsap."It (was) an emotional trip. You lose one of your best players for an extended period of time, and you're going home after a real tough loss," Malone told The Denver Post. "But we're going home together. We're going home united. And we're going home with a belief that we're heading in the right direction."

Nov 23, 2017 PHOENIX - The New Orleans Pelicans will bring their twin double-double machine to Phoenix on Friday.The Suns have three centers on their roster, and they might need every one.New Orleans center DeMarcus Cousins has 14 double-doubles and power forward Anthony Davis has 13 this season, and both did it again in the Pelicans' decisive 107-90 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday.The 6-foot-10 Davis had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and 6-11 Cousins had 24 points and 15 rebounds against the Spurs, the fifth game in which the Pelicans (10-8) have had point guard Rajon Rondo on the floor after he was sidelined by an early core injury."We'll be scary," Cousins said about the addition of Rondo to the mix. "Now we've got to find a whole new way of playing. Not saying we're switching up our style, but just getting him accustomed to playing with us and us playing with him." With Cousins and Davis getting good looks on the inside, the Pelicans shot 50 percent from the field for a franchise-record seven straight games before dropping to 48.1 percent against San Antonio.On the other side, the Pelicans limited the Spurs to 39.8 percent shooting as the Spurs occasionally search for offense during the continued absence of Kawhi Leonard."The defense is what's going to make our offense go, and we did a great job," Davis said Wednesday."When we do that, we are a tough team to beat. We really don't like to run plays every time down. If we can get a stop and push it up the floor and get an easy basket in transition, then we'd much rather do that." Davis passed Chris Paul on Wednesday to become the Pelicans' second all-time leading scorer with 7,938 points. Davis is 752 points away from New Orleans' all-time leading scorer, David West, now with Golden State.If Davis maintains his scoring pace -- he is averaging 25.9 points a game -- he would pass West before the All-Star break."I'm not trying to stop there," Davis told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "I want to bring championships here and do way more. For me, this is just one of many accomplishments I'm looking forward to getting." The Suns (7-12) have played well recently and had a two-game winning streak stopped in a 113-107 overtime home loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday. The Suns outscored the Bucks by nine in the fourth quarter but only got two points in overtime. They had a season-high 29 turnoversGuard Devin Booker had 23 points against the Bucks and center Greg Monroe came off the bench with 22 points and 15 rebounds in 32 minutes. He had eight offensive rebounds.Monroe, nominal starter Tyson Chandler and four-year veteran Alex Len have given the Suns a three-headed presence at center since Monroe returned from a calf injury last week. Chandler had six points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes against the Bucks and Len did not play."We knew they would have a hard time stopping him," Suns interim coach Jay Triano said of Monroe.Monroe is well aware of the challenge the Pelicans' frontline presents."You know you've got the two big guys, two All-Star big men coming in so you've got to slow them down first," Monroe said. "Pretty sure that's what we're going to be focusing on the hardest coming into the game Friday."

Nov 23, 2017 OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors get an opportunity to do what they do best Friday night when they follow a loss with a game against the Chicago Bulls.The Warriors will be coming off a 108-91 setback at Oklahoma City when they open a three-game homestand against a Bulls' team that will be attempting to avoid a winless four-game Western swing.The loss to the Thunder was the Warriors' fifth of the season. On the first four occasions, Golden State won their next game, beating New Orleans, Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia by an average of 18.5 points per game.The trend is not unique to this season. In the Steve Kerr regime dating back to the start of the 2014-15 season, the Warriors have gone 36-7 in the game following a loss.The Bulls handed the Warriors one of those seven defeats last March. Coming off a 112-108 loss at Washington, the Warriors were beaten 94-87 at Chicago.The Bulls are one of only four Eastern Conference teams that have beaten the Warriors multiple times since Kerr has taken over as coach. They also had a 113-111 overtime win at Golden State in 2015.The Warriors are coming off a 2-2 trip. They hurt themselves with turnovers in the losses at Boston and Oklahoma City, committing a total of 37 giveaways in those games.Golden State ranks 28th in the NBA in turnover per game with 17.1.After Wednesday's loss, Kerr accepted some of the blame for the teams' often sloppy play this season."I have to do a better job to get them ready to play," he said. "We have a pretty loose, fun atmosphere around here. That's great. But there's certain times we have to be like, 'All right guys. Let's throw it to our team. Let's execute the play. Let's remember the play.' It's those kind of things. I think right now we're in a little bit of a rut where we have to focus." Stephen Curry had six turnovers against the Thunder and 19 total on the trip.The Bulls have problems of their own. They have averaged just 93.0 points in their trip-opening losses to Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah.Chicago shot just 39.2 percent from the field and 30.1 percent on 3-pointers in the defeats. The Bulls rank last in the NBA in field-goal percentage at 41.0.On the bright side, rookie big man Lauri Markkanen had his fourth and fifth double-doubles of the season against the Suns and Lakers, recording a season-high for points at Phoenix with 26 and a season-high for rebounds at Los Angeles with 14.Acquired by the Bulls from Minnesota as part of the Jimmy Butler trade, Markkanen has been working on being more of a factor around the hoop after beginning his career as predominantly a perimeter shooter."That's definitely a personal goal for me, just to change the game, be one of those top guys," he said before Wednesday's game at Utah. "That's ultimately where I want to be at."

Time: 12:00 PM EST No. 14 Minnesota takes a step up in competition this weekend when it plays Massachusetts and No. 25 Alabama in the Barclays Center Classic in New York. The Golden Gophers (5-0) will first play UMass (3-1) on Friday at the Steinberg Wellness Center at LIU Brooklyn. They face No. 25 Alabama on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Minnesota has an impressive 86-74 win at Providence, but it has also beaten at home overmatched opponents USC Upstate, Niagara, Western Carolina and Alabama A&M. Tuesday's 100-57 win over Alabama A&M allowed coach Richard Pitino to go 10 players deep with his rotation and still rest his starters. The bench scored a season-high 42 points. Jordan Murphy had a team-high 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in 22 minutes. Murphy was the only starter to play in the last 10 minutes of the game. The Gophers shot 61 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers." I wanted our starters playing crisp minutes together," Pitino said. "I saw that, and I thought they were really good. And then obviously, I wanted to get the bench guys some minutes." UMass tried to stay crisp as well in an 85-76 win over Western Carolina on Tuesday at its Mullins Center that was without a pep band, cheerleaders and its usual student crowd because of Thanksgiving break. The Minutemen overcame the lack of spark by pulling away in the waning minutes." I'm happy we won. Take nothing away from a victory, but I think we're going to be able to take a lot from this game," UMass coach Matt McCall said. "We'll break it down and really, really learn a lot of different things. I was not happy with our effort at shoot-around, much less our effort to start the game. ... We were too loose and it completely showed to start the game." Luwane Pipkins led UMass with 21 points and a career-high 10 assists. Carl Pierre had 15 points. Malik Hines added 11 points and nine rebounds. McCall, in his first season with UMass after coaching two years at Chattanooga, has only eight scholarship players on his roster. Seven players transferred after his hire in March. Four incoming transfers are not eligible this season. The biggest blow was fifth-year point guard Jaylen Brantley diagnosed with a heart condition that ended his career." You can never prepare for that as a coach," McCall told the Boston Herald. "The guys haven't flinched. They're like, 'All right coach, what's next? Let's get better.' For me as a coach, that's all you can ask for." UMass will face an experienced Minnesota lineup led by senior point guard Nate Mason, who started against Alabama A&M and made his first five shots and scored all of his 12 points in the first half. He earned All-Big Ten first-team honors last season. While McCall is short on scholarship players, Pitino was able to dig deep into his bench Tuesday, giving freshmen Isaiah Washington and Jamir Harris and junior Davonte Fitzgerald more opportunities. Washington finished with six points on 2-for-8 shooting, but he had eight assists with only two turnovers in 21 minutes. Harris scored 11 points in 18 minutes. Fitzgerald had 13 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes." These next five games will be pretty big," Fitzgerald said. "The bench, we're going to have to step up a lot. The starting five really has a good flow going out there. So our job is to come in and not have any downfalls."

Time: 12:00 PM EST Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson will go from coaching his team to a win over North Carolina State, which beat No. 2 Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis, to playing what he called the very best of the field -- No. 5 Villanova -- in the championship game on Friday." I've seen everybody play here and they're the best," Jacobson said of Villanova after Northern Iowa defeated N. C. State 64-60 on Thursday in a semifinal game at the Imperial Ballroom Arena at Paradise Island, Bahamas." They look like a team that could win a national championship, the way they approach things and the way they do everything. They're making hustle plays. It's a team that's built on toughness." Villanova (5-0) persevered in its first two games in the Battle 4 Atlantis with pivotal runs in the second half against Western Kentucky and Tennessee to pull out wins. They trailed 44-29 with 1:39 left in the first half against the Volunteers on Thursday before taking control from the start of the second half. Coach Jay Wright's team scored the first 11 points as part of that 23-2 burst. Villanova made its comeback in an 85-76 win over Tennessee despite having five players with at least two fouls by halftime, including starters Omari Spellman (three), Makel Bridges (two) and Jalen Brunson (two)." I would love to tell you I came up with some great strategy," Wright said. "It was just we made it through the first half with everybody in foul trouble. ... We just said, 'All right, we've got everybody back, let's go play, let's do what we were supposed to do.'"Villanova shot 52 percent after halftime, fueled by Tennessee's 12 second-half turnovers that helped the Wildcats score in transition. The Wildcats also had an aggressive edge that got them to the line 24 times after halftime, making 20." That's how we should play, and throughout the whole game," said Bridges, who had 21 points. "You just saw parts of that today, in the beginning of the first half and the beginning of the second half. We practice every day trying to play like that for 40 minutes." Brunson scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime, finishing 8 of 16 from the field and 9 of 9 from the line to go with six assists. He topped 1,000 points in his career and stands at 1,007." (Teammates) give me confidence," Brunson said. "Coach gives me confidence. I put the work in, I should have confidence in myself." Northern Iowa (5-1) had a second-half comeback of its own in its win over North Carolina State, which was coming off a 90-84 victory over Arizona on Wednesday. The Panthers trailed by seven points midway through the second half but extended their winning streak to five games behind freshman guard Tywhon Pickford (18 points, 18 rebounds) and 6-foot-10 senior forward Bennett Koch (16 points). Northern Iowa rode Koch down the stretch as he delivered eight straight points to help the Panthers gain separation from the Wolfpack. The Panthers, members of the Missouri Valley Conference, have made it to the second round of the 2015 and 2016 NCAA tournaments." I'm looking forward to being in that game against Villanova because you want to play the best," said Jacobson, in his 12th season as Northern Iowa's coach. "It's great for the kids to be getting attention nationally with these games on national TV." The guys will be challenged and they're looking forward to it."

Time: 1:30 PM EST Saint Mary's has the look of a Sweet 16 contender. In the first five games of the season, the Gaels have won by 17 points three times and 18 and 19 points one time each. And in the first round of the Wooden Legacy tournament on Thursday, the Gaels blitzed Harvard 89-71 in Fullerton, Calif. In other words, the Gaels (5-0) are rolling, and despite a hiccup in the second half against the Crimson, have not let up. Washington State easily has earned the moniker of the "Comeback Kids" so far this season. In its first-round game of the Wooden, the Cougars went scoreless for nearly eight minutes and were outscored 26-0 by Saint Joseph's. But Washington State overcame a 20-point deficit and defeated the Hawks 75-71 on Malachi Flynn's go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds left. The Cougars move on to a second-round matchup with the No. 21 Gaels on Friday at Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif. Washington State already had come back from a 20-plus-point deficit in the season opener to beat Texas Southern in overtime. After that game, coach Ernie Kent issued a prophetic statement." This game is probably a microcosm of what our season's going to be," Kent told the Spokesman-Review. Understatement after four games. In their second game, the Cougars trailed Seattle by 10 early in the second half before winning by 16. Next, against Idaho State, the Cougars led by only four at half before going on a surge to win easily. Robert Franks has been Washington State's most consistent player, averaging 18.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Kent raved about Franks' all-around play." I am glad people saw that part of Robo's game, because he is not just a shooter, he is a complete player," Kent said after the Idaho State game. "If we can get him to continue to come defensively, you know he has a chance to be really special." Flynn's numbers (15.7/4.0/5.3) aren't too far off of Franks' line. Toss in Carter Skaggs' 13.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and the Cougars boast plenty of firepower to match up with many teams. Few teams have a player like Jock Landale, Saint Mary's 6-foot-11 All-America candidate. Landale scored a game-high 26 points while going 7-for-9 from the floor and 12-for-13 from the foul line against Harvard. His play left a good impression on Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker." He's one of the better post players in the country," Amaker said. "He's very savvy. I think he's crafty in his ability to find cutters and uses angles and shot fakes very well. He's the whole package for a low-post guy." The Gaels' game plan is simple: Get the ball to Landale in the paint." We're not very smart if we're not trying to play through Jock in the post," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett told the San Francisco Chronicle after the Thursday win. "We usually have a mismatch there." Emmett Naar also poses a nightmare for Gaels' opponents. The Australian has been compared to previous point guards who have been in the program -- Patty Mills and Matthew Dellevadova -- and some think he is the best. Against the Crimson, Naar flirted with a triple-double, compiling 11 points, nine boards and nine assists. He scored four consecutive points to clinch the win after the Crimson whittled the lead down to nine." I thought we played probably our best half of the year and then played probably about our worst five minutes to start the second half," Bennett told the Chronicle. "They could have laid down easy, but they didn't." Bennett is well aware of Washington State's ability to come from way back and earn an improbable win." We have to learn from this," Bennett said. "Fortunately, we can learn through a win."

Time: 3:30 PM EST North Carolina's run to the national championship last year nearly didn't happen thanks to a feisty Arkansas squad. Now the Razorbacks will have their chance at revenge when the teams face off in the second round of the Phil Knight 80 Invitational on Friday in Portland, Ore. The winner advances to the championship game of the Victory bracket on Sunday." We're just going to take it as another game. Yeah, we did play them last year and we lost to them, but we also have to give them their respect," Arkansas guard Daryl Macon said. "They're national champions. We're just going to go out there and play with the same intensity we did (Thursday in a win over Oklahoma)." Ninth-ranked North Carolina survived an early scare from Portland in the first round with a dominating second half en route to a 102-78 win. Arkansas battled a tough Sooners squad for 40 minutes but emerged with a 92-83 victory. The Tar Heels lost key players from last year's national championship team but still return the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, Joel Berry II, as well as postseason darling Luke Maye." I've really had a concerted effort on scoring more in the post," Maye said. "We lost three top players in the post. I'm trying to make more shots in the paint and be a presence in there. I've got a long way to go, but I'm getting there." Maye and Berry were instrumental in North Carolina's opening-round victory. Maye posted a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Berry added 18 points, including a 4-of-9 showing from beyond the 3-point arc. Kenny Williams added 17 points for the Tar Heels, and Theo Pinson was solid all around with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists." I don't think I've ever had a player get a triple-double, but he might be the first," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said of Pinson. Macon was lights out for the Razorbacks in their first-round win, dropping 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting with six 3-pointers. Daniel Gafford chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds. Apart from Macon and leading scorer Jaylen Barford, Arkansas is going to want to get out in transition and run. The Razorbacks, who average 93 points per game, pushed the pace against Oklahoma by scoring 20 points off 19 forced turnovers. They also shot 27 of 33 from the free-throw line. North Carolina has no problem running, as the team is more of a guard-orientated squad. Maye has the capability to step out and hit the 3-pointer, thus really spreading out defenses and opening up lanes for players such as Pinson to attack." It's just something I've been gifted to have my whole life," Pinson said about his offensive prowess. "I just try to be aggressive and (make) plays ... when I get to the basket, good things happen." When the teams met last year in the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels were down by five with a couple minutes left but rallied for a 72-65 win. The teams have one common opponent early this season. North Carolina defeated Bucknell 93-81, three days after Arkansas routed the Bison 101-73.

Time: 5:00 PM EST The West Virginia players were not feeling the warmth of Thanksgiving from coach Bob Huggins after the 23rd-ranked Mountaineers barely survived against a winless Marist team Thursday in an opening-round game of the AdvoCare Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Fla." Our effort (stunk)," Huggins said following the Mountaineers' 84-78 win. "To play the way we play, you have to play with great effort." Jevon Carter had 20 points and Sagaba Konate added 14 points and 10 rebounds for West Virginia (4-1). The Mountaineers shot only 35.1 percent from the field, including 21.1 percent from 3-point range, against Marist (0-4). West Virginia will play Central Florida in a semifinal game Friday. The Knights improved to 4-0 with a 68-59 victory over Nebraska in another first-round game. UCF coach Johnny Dawkins singled out senior A. J. Davis as a primary reason for the Thursday win. Davis made a crucial 3-pointer with 2:50 left to stem a surge by Nebraska. He finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals." I was really proud of A. J," Dawkins said. "There's a lot on his shoulders. He's like a point forward for us, so he plays multiple positions." He does whatever I need him to do. ... He never blinks. He just says, 'What do you need from me, Coach?' and he goes out there and does it. He's stepping up like a senior should when you need him to." Freshman point guard Ceasar DeJesus led the Knights with 15 points Thursday. Regular point guard B. J. Taylor is out at least three more weeks with an ankle injury." It did a lot for our confidence," DeJesus told the Orlando Sentinel about the victory over the Cornhuskers. "We just had to stay disciplined and keep playing the game because Nebraska is a good team and they can make a run at any time." UCF received a scare in the first half when 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall went sprawling to the floor after coming down on DeJesus during a loose-ball scrum under the Nebraska basket. Fall was in noticeable pain and holding his knee. After exiting to the locker room briefly, he returned to the game just before halftime, and he finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Huggins is hoping UCF does not show the kind of defense Marist played against his team. The Red Foxes employed a variety of zone defenses that continually dared the Mountaineers to shoot from the outside, and Huggins' team could not muster an offensive flow." They did a great job, they really did," Huggins said of the Red Foxes. "They changed defenses on us, but we rely so much on making threes that we never threw the ball inside." Also alarming to Huggins was the Mountaineers blowing a 15-point lead with 9:21 remaining by allowing Marist to go on a 17-2 run." I've got to figure out what we're supposed to teach them in terms of guarding the basket because to me it seems to change weekly," the coach said.

Time: 5:30 PM EST PORTLAND, Ore. -- Because the teams aren't in the same bracket, fans won't be seeing Duke take on North Carolina on Friday. Instead, they'll settle for watching two of the top NBA prospects square off. Freshman Marvin Bagley III will lead the Blue Devils against Mohamed Bamba and Texas in a second-round matchup at the Phil Knight 80 Invitational in Portland, Ore. The game, which features the nation's No. 1 (Bagley) and No. 4 (Bamba) recruits, is sure to have NBA scouts drooling. Duke nearly suffered a monumental upset in the first round when it was trailing Portland State 49-45 at halftime. The Blue Devils regained composure in the second half and used their size and length to pull away for a 99-81 victory." The first half we obviously weren't playing like we were normally do," Bagley said." We weren't doing the things that we do well. We weren't going to our strengths. We kind of came out sluggish. But going into the second half it was just, 'You have to wake up.' They (the coaches) mentioned to us that these are the type of games that are going to be like that if you don't come out ready to play." Meanwhile, Texas outlasted Butler 61-48 in an ugly offensive game. The Longhorns shot 40 percent and got 16 points from guard Andrew Jones for the win. Bamba was held to just six points, but he did have game-highs of 12 rebounds and four blocks. Duke is willing to play fast or slow, either getting up and down the court or pounding it inside to its big men in a half-court game. Five players average double figures, with Bagley leading the way at 19.2 points and nine rebounds per game. Grayson Allen, a potential national player of the year, averages 18.4 points and shoots 50 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. But, without Allen in the lineup, the Blue Devils are extremely young and prone to letting up -- as was the case against Portland State." You know what happens sometimes too when you're in a tournament? You assume you're going to play Sunday night. Especially when you're young, you assume that," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. Texas doesn't have the depth Duke does, but Bamba will be the best player the Blue Devils have faced this year. He averages 14 points, nine rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game. Dylan Osetkowski is a nice complement to Bamba, averaging 11.3 points and nine rebounds per game. This game will offer contrasting styles as Duke shoots the three-ball well enough -- 37 percent -- while Texas struggles at 27.4 percent. The winner will advance to the championship game of the "Motion" bracket on Sunday.

Time: 5:30 PM EST Xavier will get a sturdy test Friday -- one that should help the Musketeers prepare for the challenging Big East down the road -- but coach Chris Mack isn't much worried about learning lessons at this time of the season." Maybe I should be looking more big picture, but I just like to win," said Mack, whose 15th-ranked team beat George Washington 83-64 on Thursday in a semifinal game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena. The Musketeers (5-0) pulled away after leading by only six points with less than nine minutes remaining. Xavier faces Arizona State (5-0) in the tournament's championship game on Friday. The Sun Devils outlasted Kansas State 92-90 in the other semifinal behind a career-high 28 points from wing Kodi Justice, who made 9 of 10 shots from the field, including all four from 3-point range. Mack, whose team reached the Elite Eight last season, is looking for a more complete effort than he saw Thursday." We took our foot off the gas pedal for about five minutes (in the second half against George Washington), and we've got to be able to correct that and hopefully we will," Mack said. "We are certainly not consistent, but I think that happens to a lot of teams this early in the season." To be able to play 40-minute complete game, I don't know if you can find 10 Division I teams able to do that this early in the year. We learn a lot about ourselves in tournaments like this. We'll have a quick turnaround and play a really good team." Mack said Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, the former Duke All-American, has the Sun Devils playing like a "up-and-comer from a big-time conference (the Pac-12)." Arizona State forward Romello White finished with 19 points and six rebounds against Kansas State. Senior guard Shannon Evans had 14 points. The Sun Devils shot 54 percent from the floor but made only 29 of 44 from the foul line." We preach in our locker room we came here to win a championship," Evans said. "We might not be favored, but we'll give it our best shot. We didn't come here to lose." Justice added: "Playing teams like Kansas State and Xavier builds your resume. Playing Xavier in the championship will pay dividends down the road." Xavier's Trevon Bluiett, the Big East's leading scorer entering play Thursday, achieved his fifth consecutive 20-point game finishing with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting against George Washington. He added seven rebounds. Bluiett is more upbeat than Mack about the Musketeers' development early in the season." Just as far as my confidence and physical ability and being out there for the team, I'd say we're off to a pretty good start," Bluiett told Cincinnati.com. Xavier sophomore guard Quentin Goodin tied a career high with 16 points, and Musketeers senior forward Sean O'Mara added 10 points in 16 minutes despite briefly exiting the game after he turned his ankle in the first half.